Posting this here because I don't know where else it should go - a reddit.com user discovered a major security breach in Catster and Dogster, including login info. If you use the same password here as anywhere else on the internet, I recommend changing it. If you're in any Dogster/Catster facebook groups or know any previous Dogsters, please let them know too!

Please repost this information anywhere you think is relevant! Here's the link to the reddit post: http://www.reddit.com/r/self/comments/2az8x7/i_found_25_million_hack ed_passwords_to_the/

Posting this here because it's reasonably active - a reddit.com user discovered a major security breach in Catster and Dogster, including login info. If you use the same password here as anywhere else on the internet, I recommend changing it.

Please repost this information anywhere you think is relevant! Here's the link to the reddit post: http://www.reddit.com/r/self/comments/2az8x7/i_found_25_million_hack ed_passwords_to_the/

Hey folks - how do you go about finding good reviews or information about foster rescues? I know this topic has come up here before, but I can't remember anything that didn't involve knowing a lot of dog people and just asking them for opinions. We don't know any dog people around here and can't very well get involved with dog-related activities without having a dog yet, so I'm a bit lost. Is there someone we should ask? Reviews online we can look at (it doesn't look like people really use Yelp for this kind of thing)?

It wasn't such a big issue before some specific requirements came into play in our dog search...before I was a bit more flexible, but now I think the best idea would be to work with a rescue who can really match us with the right dog. There are a few I've been able to figure out are pretty good, but they're all breed-specific. I'm willing to go for a breed-specific rescue if that's what's best, but our needs/preferences are all personality/temperament/socialization related and not really tied to a specific breed. So finding a good all-breed rescue would be great. Any tips?

Also, if anybody here can recommend a great foster rescue in Northern California (USA), feel free to PM me.

I went through Ye Olde Dog Breed Directory Post and I couldn't find an entry for the Whippet! Which is really unfortunate, because I'm looking for information about them. Hopefully with Dogster not shutting down forums after all, you all can help me out.

Short version: Tell me about Whippets! What are their personalities like? Are they more serious or more silly? Chill or anxious? Hyper or lazy? How trainable are they - do they make good trick dogs? My general impression is that they're well-mannered and low-key, but generally not obedience champions. Let me know if that's not the case.

Long version: OK, OK, I'll tell you about me and why I'm asking. My fiance and I are getting married soon and moving into our new place (yay!). It's a large apartment in a pet-friendly complex, which is right next to a park with a small, fenced-in dog park in it. The complex has a few breed restrictions (mostly pit bulls, which is sad but not uncommon), but no weight restrictions. We also have a cat, who is not the biggest fan of dogs but deals with them fine as long as they don't try to chase him.

We're looking for something medium sized, 20-40 pounds or so. I'm a jogger but fiance is not, and fiance is concerned that a dog who's over-the-top hyper in the house would be unnerving for him. So we'd like a dog who enjoys running but doesn't NEED to run in order to be sane. Personally, I'm inclined to just go for a Cocker Spaniel (because they're my jam) or maybe a Wheaten and just leave it at that. But recently the subject of Whippets has come up. Fiance is a cat person who also likes dogs, which is probably why he's attracted to Whippets. But they do seem like a fairly good fit in most ways - reasonably active but low-key in the house, quiet, cuddly, etc.

So here are my things - I've heard that Whippets are fine with their own cats, but not so good with others. Can someone confirm? I'm also looking for personality info. I like goofy, silly dogs. I also really enjoy dog training and would like a dog who's up for learning some frivolous tricks. Is that something one can do with a Whippet, or are they more of a "well-mannered but bad student" type? What are your experiences with them?

As a general rule, how about we all use the full URL and/or link to whatever forum we're talking about from now on? This thread is moving so quickly that I can't find any of the links you guys are discussing except for The Dog Snobs forum, which as other people have noted isn't up yet.

If anyone's going to Dogforum.com, my username there is LisasGirl. You can create pet pages there as well, but it's pretty basic - just photos, nicknames, what your dog likes to do, that kind of thing. So far I really like the vibe in the forums conversations - it's active, friendly, and has an interesting back-and-forth between users. It's also got a big enough userbase that newbies wander into it and ask questions. So that's a plus. As far as the reasons I go to Dogster, the only thing missing there is you all.

Can someone link me to the proboards and such that people are going to? I'm happy to bookmark whatever sites the rest of y'all are going to.

Well, if you're looking for an active dog who would do well in things like dog sports and bite work, you're going to need a dog with at least some drive. You don't need a dog that's off-its-rocker drivey, but you'll still be looking for something smart, driven, and high-energy. And honestly I can't think of any dog that hits all three of those and isn't a bit difficult in its puppy years.

I think if you don't care too much about the dog being a super-duper-grand champion, and you just want to compete for fun, and you don't want to deal with a pushy/mischievous/difficult teenage dog, then why not look for a rescue GSD? I'm sure there are plenty out there who are too much for a casual suburban home but just right for a hobby competitor.

Pet360 has potential, but I agree that it's pretty difficult to navigate, and the boards are too segregated IMO. For example, under Behavior and Training, there are separate boards for Separation Anxiety, Dog Pettiquette, and Training Chats (which has a completely different format from the other two boards), all of which could easily be combined into one general Training board. If all of those topics were active enough that discussions frequently got lost, I could see separating them out. But when you're just looking for casual discussion about dog behavior in general, it's hard to know where to put it and it takes a lot of effort to find what you're looking for.

Personally, though, I don't care too much about learning a new format as long as there's a place that's active and well set up for the kind of free-ranging discussions we used to have. I'm also not too attached to pet pages - for me they were always much more perk than necessity. They're nice, but I don't need them. The community conversations are what I care about.

I've seen lots of new, free forums languish and die off pretty quickly. I feel like our numbers and posting rate are already down enough that we'd be unlikely to build things back up in the way that I am imagining, at least, in any kind of timely manner. We're better off just migrating somewhere that's at least reasonably active and compatible with what we've had here. Could be my attempt to be practical is falling into pessimism, but that's how I see things.

Personally I'm still leaning toward dogforums.com, though they don't have the awesome pet profiles like we had here. I'll follow the group, of course, but I'm considering setting up an account there anyway.

I agree this community is special...I took a break from it a little over year ago (and many other online communities, so please don't feel snubbed ) and now I'm back and it's like a ghost town. Spam bots everywhere and very little of the lively conversation I used to enjoy. I'm worried about a brand new forum, though - it usually takes a really long time for those to build up new members, and I think having input from lots of people (including newbies) was something I liked around here. Not that I don't like just talking to you all, but it seems like we'd be less active all on our own.

To be honest, dogforums.com looks promising, if we could all find each other there and get involved. It's fairly active and covers many of the same topics. I'm not as familiar with it, though, so someone let me know if there are glaring issues. I just think if we all went together, we'd have a better shot at transforming an existing community rather than trying to jumpstart our own.

I discovered PoodleForum.com a while back when I was doing breed research, and it's a nice enough starting point, though it is breed-specific. Dogforums.com looks like a nice all-breed translation of that. We'd just have to make accounts named after our dogs so we can find each other there.

EDIT: Does anyone know where (if anywhere) any of the other former active Dogsters have gone off to? Maybe we can just follow them.

First, I'd recommend coming up with a good way to separate Harley and the cats when needed. Sometimes puppies just get overstimulated, and when that happens it's helpful to be able to just remove him from the cats (or the cats from him) and give him a chance to cool down. Basically, avoid having to practice "leave it" while Harley is already amped up and hyper.

I do think that a good, strong "leave it" is your best bet here. That's how Keiko learned to avoid the cats, horses, parakeets, etc. A few things that will help set you up for success:
- Practice "leave it" in situations when the cats are not involved. Practice it with treats, when there's nothing he really needs to leave. Practice it when he's bored. Basically, practice really easy leave its to build up a strong foundation.
- Make sure that you always, ALWAYS have some kind of very high-value treat on you when the cats and Harley are in the same room. Find something he likes better than playing with the cats, like hot dogs or boiled chicken or bacon...if worst comes to worst, most dogs adore liver.
- After you ask Harley to "leave" the cats, give him something else to do. Redirect him onto another toy or ask him to perform a few other tricks. Impulse control is really tough for puppies, so make his life easier by just asking him to play with something *else,* rather than trying to get him to quit playing altogether. A flirt pole or something else he can safely "chase" would be good, or just a tug toy, a ball, or a delicious chew toy.

If you do both of those things, then you show him that ignoring the cats is a good thing AND it doesn't require him to give up his fun times.

Your trainer is right, though...this is a really difficult "leave it." So you're going to have to be really consistent about reinforcing "leave it" in ALL situations, including as a part of regular practice training. Be vigilant when they're in the same room, so you can redirect him as early as possible. It'll probably take him a while to really get it down, but it's possible if you stick with it.